Elastic or resilient wheel for vehicles.



N0. 634,893. Patentd U01. I7, |899. T. LEE.

ELASTIG 0R BESILIENT WHEEL FDR VEHICLES.

(Application mea mr. 1899.)

(No Model.)

WM W lto conne said tireagainst lateral movements,

this invention appertains may understand ivTnn STATES PATENT rieten,

ELASTIC OR RESILIENT WHEEL FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,893, dated october17, ieee.

Serial No. 707,845. (No modeld T0 @ZZ 'whom t may con/cern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS LEE, a citizen of the United States, residingat Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Elastic or ResilientIVheels for Automobile or other Vehicles, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in elastic orresilient Wheels for automobile or other vehicles, and has for itsobject to so construct a wheel of this description as to render thetread thereof resilient or cushion-backed While using a non-resilienttire; and a further object of my invention is to provide a series ofautomatic pumps, each being connected with the sectional tire, whichwillnot only provide for the cushioning of said tire, but will instantlysupply air under pressure to a reservoir or chamber, which action iseffected by the travel of thewheel; a still further object of myinvention is to so combine a exible or sectional tire with a rim as thestrain incident to the tendency to such movements being received andsustained by the rim. Y

With these ends in view this invention consists in the details ofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafterset forth, and thenspecifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which how to make and use thesame, the construction and operation will now be described in detail,referring to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l represents a portion of a wheel madein accordance with my improvement, certain of the pumps being shown insection, also a portion of the rim being sectioned away to betterillustrate the action of the sectional tire; and Fig. 2, a cross-sectionof the rim and tire.

In carrying out my invention as here embodied, A represents the hub ofthe wheel, from which radiate the spokes B, the latter being of anysuitable construction, and these spokes are connected with the secondaryrim C, which latter is hollow, and the interior thereof forms thecompartment or compressedfor the purpose hereinafter This primary rim isjournaled or of U shape in cross-section for receiving and guiding thetire G, said tire being here shown as composed of lengths pivotedtogether at the point I-I. Each of the pumps E is divided into twobarrels I and J by the partition K, and two pistons or plun gers L and Mare fitted in these barrels, respectively, and connected together by therod N. These rods pass outward through the heads of the pumps and arepivoted to the links of the tire at the point-s H. A small hole O leadsfrom the outer air to each ot the barrels I, so as to permit the air toflow therein when the plungerL moves outward, and a passage-way P leadsfrom each of these barrels to the interior of the compartment D of thesecondary rim C. The result of this construction is that when theplunger L is moved inward the air contained in the barrel I will beforced through the passage P to the reservoir D and may be preventedfrom returning to said barrel upon theoutward movement of the plunger bya suitable valve Q, so that when said plunger moves outward it will drawin a 'fresh supply of air through the hole O.

Vhen the wheel is in position upon a vehicle and is caused to travel ineither direc tion, the links of the tire successively comingin contactwith the road-bed and receiving the weight of the wheel and its loadwill force i the plungers L and M inward, and in so d0- ing the formerplunger will deliver a certain amount of compressed air to the reservoirD, i

as just described, and the resistance offered by the compression of thisair will act as a cushion to that portion of the tire, and when apressure has been created in the reservoir D by the continued action ofthe pumps brought about by travel of the wheel lthis pressure will alsoact upon the plunger M, and thereby afford a second cushion, which, inconjunction with the Iirst named, will support the load carried by thewheel and give the effect of a pneumatic tire. A further means ofcushioning the tireis the vacuum IOO a 6'34,ses

created behind -each of the are forced inward.

It is obvious that the heavier the load carried by the wheel the greaterwill be the compression of the air delivered to the reservoir D, andconsequently the greater the pressure against the plungers for thesustaining of said load, by which arrangement the proper cushioningforce will h e automatically established by the travel of the wheel.

Since the primary rim lF houses the sectional tire,said tire cannot bemoved sidewise, so that any lateral strain brought thereon will bereceived and sustained by the sides of this rim, while permitting thelinks of said tire to move inward and out/ward in performing theirfunction. At the points where the links are pivoted together a slightlongitudinal movement is permitted by the pivotholes being elongated, soas to provide for the necessary go and come of these links in changingtheir position from the circular periphery of the tire to the fiat-tenedportion thereof in contact with 'the road-bed, o1' any other convenientor desirable means may be utilized for this purpose. It will be notedthat the action of the sectional tire, in conjunction with thecushioning-plungers, will be such as to tend to reestablish the generalcircular form of said tire, and this tendency will cause the links afterhaving been brought in contact with the road-bed to act as a lift or pryupon the rear side of the wheel relative to its direction of travel,thus overcoming any resistance offered to the forward progression of thewheel by the flattening in of the tire, and this action will thereforeestablish an equilibrium, which will cause the wheel to revolve asreadily and freely as though each were provided with aperfectlyconcentric solid tire.

In practice the tread of my improved wheel will readily adapt itself tothe unevennesses of the road-bed over which it is passing, thus avoidingthe lifting of the wheel forsuch unevennesses, which for certainvehicles is a serious objection. This action of the tire is most markedwhere the wheel is' compelled to travel over railway-tracks or run uponstreet-railways, since it greatly facilitates the turning of said wheelout of such tracks.

The holes O may be made of such size relative to the capacity ofthepassages P as to permit onlya gradual outflow of' air from the barrels Iwhen the plungers are forced inward, while the bulk of this air will becaused to pass through the passage P, or, if desirable, the holes O mayhave check-valves placed therein which will permit the iniiowing of theair to the barrels, but will prevent said air from flowing outward whenthe plungers are moved inward, or these holes maybe entirely dispensedwith and the air drawn around or through the plungers L in anywell-known or suitable manner.A A suitable relief-valve may be connectedwith the reservoir D, and thereby regulate the amount of pressureaccumuplungers as they lated in said reservoir, which in the operationsof the wheel would relieve any surplus pressure transmitted thereto byth-e pumpplungers.

While I have shown a series of pumps ar-i ranged between a primary and asecondary rim and spokes running from said secondary rim to the hub ofthe wheel, I do not wish to limit myself to any particular constructionof wheel, since the secondary rim might be dispensed with and the spokesrun directlyfrom the hub to the primary rim and certain or all of thembe utilized as the plunger-barrels, any suitable reservoir beingprovided either at the hub or otherwise. For some purposes it might befound advantageous to omit the plu n gers L,which serve as pumping-pluri gers, and establish a pneumatic pressure within the reservoirby external means, in which case the sectional tire would be cushionedby this pressure acting upon the plungers P or their equivalents, thegist of my invention resting in the broad idea of providing a sectionaltire and connecting the same with plungers acted upon by pneumaticpressure to cushion the links of said tire, and I do not wish to belimited to the minor changes in the construction of my improved wheel,as

- many such changes might be made without departing from the spirit ofmy invention-*- as, for instance, the rods N may be pivoted -to thelinks Gr at the center thereof instead of at the point Where the linksare coupled tof gether.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and.useful isl. In combination with a vehicle-wheel,- a sectional tire,plungers connected with the links thereof, and means for pneumaticallycushioning the links of said tire.

2. In combination with a vehicle-wheel, a flanged rim, a tire composedof links iitted Vloetween the flanges of said rim, rods pivoted to thelinks, plungers carried by the rods, barrels in which said plungers fit,and a reservoir for holding air under pressure connected with saidbarrels so as to cushion the plungers, as specified.

3. In combination, a suitable reservoir connected with the hub of awheel, a primary rim connected with the reservoir by a series of pumps,two barrels formed in each of said pumps, plungers fitted in each of thebarrels, one series of said plungers adapted to pump air under pressure,While the other series of said plungers are adapted to be acted upon bythe air stored in the reservoir to force them outward, a tire composedof links pivoted together and fitted within the primary rim, and rodsconnected with the plungers and the links, as and for the purpose setforth.

4.' In combination with a wheel of the character described, a series ofpumps, each having a barrel I and J formed therein, plungers L and Mfitted within said barrels respectively, the first-named plungers actingas pump-plungers, means forpermitting the in- IOO IIO

- Iiowin g of air to the barrels I when their plungers are movedoutward, means for permit ting the flow of the air from the last-namedbarrels when their plungers are moved inward, a reservoir for receivingthis outiowing air, valves for preventing the return of the air from thereservoir to said pump-ban rels I, a iian ged rim, a sectional tirefitted between the plungers of said rim, and rods for connecting theplungers with the sections of the tire, as specified.

5. In combination with a wheel of the character described, a series oftwin barrels having plungers fitted therein, one of the series ofplungers acting as pumps, and the other series as cushioneplungers,means for maintaining a pneumatic pressure upon the plungers, and meansfor creating a vacuum befixed my signature in the presence of two sub-3o scribing Witnesses.

THOMAS LEE'. t IVitnessesf HAMER', L. W. MORRISONi

